The Carolina Hurricanes took to the ice Thursday morning for the team’s first practice since their 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals.
While everyone who played in that game was back at practice, there was some slight adjustments to how the defensive pairs were arranged.
The Canes are still missing two key pieces as Jaccob Slavin (LBI) and Jalen Chatfield (UBI) remain sidelined with injuries, but the team’s remaining six defensemen all looked to have new partners.
Sean Walker, who’s been the Canes’ de facto number one defensemen since Slavin went out, averaging nearly 24 minutes a night, was once again paired alongside Shayne Gostisbehere.
The two formed Carolina’s third pairing last season, combining for nearly 800 minutes together, and they had some of the strongest possession numbers in the entire league with a 63.30 CF% and a 60.04 xGF%.
Gostisbehere looked a bit rusty on Tuesday, as he returned to action after what was essentially 10 days out with injury, so it would make sense to give him a bit more support alongside Walker.
Next, it was K’Andre Miller paired alongside rookie Joel Nystrom.
Miller has been leaned on practically just as much as Walker has during Carolina’s current blueline fiasco (23:11 ATOI).
His skating and stickhandling pop off the page and he can provide a strong supporting presence for Nystrom.
The rookie has actually been pretty good for the Hurricanes, now with 10 games under his belt and averaging just under 17 minutes a night.
The 2021 seventh-round pick has a 57.96 CF%, 55.39 xGF% and has outscored opponents 7-5 in his ice time. He’s also been getting penalty kill time and the coaching staff has given him a bit more of a greenlight to be more aggressive in the offensive zone as well, with the rookie having had 22 shot attempts himself.
Finally, the Hurricanes also had top rookie Alexander Nikishin paired alongside veteran Mike Reilly.
Much like Walker and Miller, Nikishin has also found himself having to play more and a lot tougher minutes than probably initially expected (20:28 ATOI).
However, the rookie blueliner has thrived with the opportunity, with two goals, eight points, 44 hits and 24 blocks in 16 games.
Nikishin has been dominating his minutes too and holds one of the best 5v5 goal differentials in the league, having outscored opponents 20-9.
Reilly has also had a fairly strong go with Carolina, controlling a 61.08 CF% and 61.40 xGF%, while also outscoring opponents 12-5 at 5v5.
He signed with the Canes expecting to be the seventh defenseman, but he’s played 13/16games so far, averaging 18:08 per game.
Reilly is being deployed on the penalty kill too and is one of only two players on the team with a shorthanded goal this season.
While there’s no guarantee that these are the lines that coach Rod Brind’Amour goes with on Friday against the Vancouver Canucks, this is how it looked on Thursday and with everything still out of whack on the blueline, why not try a few different looks.
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